Mike Madill Returns to Wranglers

Las Vegas, Nev. - The Las Vegas Wranglers(r) announced today that they have agreed to terms with defenseman Mike Madill (Ma-DILL), and he will be returning to the team for the 2011-12 season.

The 5'11, 195-pound blueliner spent the 2010-11 season with the Nippon Paper Cranes of the Asia League, where he collected five goals, 14 assists and 20 penalty minutes across 36 games. Madill also played in four playoff games, but the playoff finals were cancelled after the earthquake and tsunami disasters in Japan resulted in national emergencies. The Nippon Paper Cranes finished fourth in the Asia League.

"We were in Sendai, Japan, when we lost the Play-Off Semi Finals [in the Asia League], and we flew out Sunday, and the earthquake started on Wednesday," 29-year-old Madill said of this year's Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. "We were there three days earlier and it was a little spooky. The airport and the train station we were at were gone."

Back home in Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan, Madill said one of his Japanese teammates knocked on his apartment door and told him he should leave. Families in the town were driving up a nearby mountain to avoid rising water.

"Every rest area [on the way up the mountain] was packed with a bunch of people from our town just staring down at our city and waiting," Madill said. "Everyone left and was just waiting to see what was going to happen. Our town got flooded, but it wasn't really a wave that pounded the town. It wrecked everything that was right on the water. A lot of people had it much worse than us, and we were very lucky."

Madill played with the Wranglers for three seasons (2007-10), and put up great numbers all three years. For his first season with the Wranglers (2007-08), Madill had four goals, 10 assists and 50 penalty minutes in 68 games, and one goal, six assists and six penalty minutes in 21 playoff games. He also played one game with the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals and two games with the AHL's Quad City Flames.

"I loved my three years here, and it feels like home," Madill said. "My wife and her whole family are from Las Vegas, and it would be great to win a championship here after coming so close my first year."

In the 2008-09 season, Madill racked up 26 points (6g, 20a) and 50 penalty minutes in 72 games played, and had four assists and 12 penalty minutes in 13 playoff games. During the 2009-10 season, he earned 34 points (5g, 29a) and 26 penalty minutes across 65 games, and two assists and two penalty minutes in five games in the 2009-10 playoffs.

"Mike Madill is one of those types of players you build your defense around," General Manager and Head Coach Ryan Mougenel said. "His ability to be a puck-moving defenseman will help our power plays, and his defensive zone skills will help us protect our net. We're happy to have Mike back in Las Vegas again."

The Wranglers host Opening Night, billed as "The Last Professional Hockey Game on Earth," on Friday, October 21st, 2011 at 7:05 PM against Ontario Reign. 2011-12 season seat packages are on sale now at (702) 471-PUCK. The Wranglers play all 36 regular season home games at the Orleans Area, located adjacent to the Orleans Hotel and Casino at 4500 W. Tropicana Avenue.